Take it Off
by Leper Messiah
Summary: Sirius wants Remus to show off his body. But when Remus gets cold, Sirius tries to warm him up. Fun Slash!Angst.
1. Default One

The plot bunnies threatened to cut me if I didn't write the following. So here I am, in Psychology class, and I'm writing slash.God help us all.

Fortuantely for Christians everywhere, JK still owns these characters. But while the internet is around, I will be using them for slash.

* * *

"Take it off"

Remus Lupin awoke to the sound of off-key singing ricocheting off the thick stone walls of Gryffindor Tower. He groaned, unwillingly sat up, and squinted towards the still-curtained window.

There was only one person who had the gall to sing so loudly, so badly, and so early in the morning. Remus turned towards the other canopied beds that shared his room. As he suspected, Sirius Black was not there.

With another groan, Remus heaved himself out of bed, stretching, and then frowning at the cold morning air. It wasn't too early to get up, he mused, but early enough to be annoying. With a sigh, he opened his drawer to fetch his toothbrush, hurrying across the freezing stone floor towards the door, bare feet burning cold. Still blinking himself awake, Remus reached for the door handle, only for the door to swing open in his face.

There stood Sirius Black, completely nude, completely drenched, and grinning widely.

"Hallo Moony!" Sirius skirted around Remus and into the room. Remus stared forward in disbelief.

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you, Sirius?" he sputtered, swiveling around. "What are you _doing_?"

"Well," Sirius said, dancing around, "I left my towel, and I didn't feel like running back for it."

"But ..." Remus was blushing furiously as Sirius twirled about, finally reaching into his wardrobe for a towel. "What if somebody _saw_ you?"

"Eh," Sirius pulled back from the wardrobe, tapping his foot, "no one's awake, anyway. Except you, I guess."

"Well, after your delightful singing-"

"I like to sing. You'll just have to get used to it. Besides which," Sirius lifted his bed-skirts, searching in vain for a towel, "I'm not a prude like you. Why is it so dark in here?" Sirius jumped up, skipping towards the window, as Remus looked on, aghast and irritated.

"I'm not a _prude_. You're just a sexual deviant. You – what are you doing?" Remus gaped as Sirius threw open the curtains, bright sunlight flooding the room. "That's a window!"

"Yes, Moony, it is." Sirius turned around to face his friend. As hard as Remus fought to keep his eyes on Sirius' face, the brightness kept forcing him to look downwards. "No one outside to look in. Not that I would really care if they did." He made a muscle. Remus' eyes darted down for a moment, causing him to wince.

"Why don't you go put something on, for God's sake?"

"I was looking." Sirius peered into the room, searching for something. "Oh. There it is."

Remus glared as Sirius plucked down a towel, hanging from the canopy a between his bed and the wall.

"Hey, blokes," James said, stirring, "keep it down, will you?"

"Sirius was just traipsing about starkers." Remus said, venomously. "God's gift to women and like."

"Again?" James muttered, pulling his blanket over his head. "I told you to stop that ..."

"C'mon Prongs. Up and out. It's that time again." Sirius whistled as he readied himself for school. Remus did the same, glowering in the corner.

"Fuck, are you serious?" James sat up quickly, wiping his eyes.

"I always am." Sirius grinned.

"Oh, fuck you."

---------------------------------

The next afternoon, Remus slowly closed the room to his door, dressed in a bathrobe and dripping trails of water all over the floor. Humming to himself, he had finally finished dressing when Sirius marched into the room, slamming the door open.

"Hey!" Sirius called, sitting on the bed and taking off his shoes. "Doing okay mate?"

"Yeah, cheers." Remus finished buttoning up his shirt as Sirius looked on.

"Why do you always do that?"  
  
"Do what?" Remus asked, combing his hair.

"Go into the corner. It's your own room, you know."

"I know."

Sirius stretched and rolled his head as he continued to watch Remus put on his tie and robes.

"You shouldn't be ashamed at yourself, Moony."  
  
"Ashamed?" Remus turned to face Sirius, eyebrow quirked. "I wouldn't say that."

"Then why are you so ... you know what I mean."

"Actually, I don't know what you mean."

"You always cover yourself up so much. Everyone has scars."

"Sirius. I could care less about scars. I'm more worried about the cold. I'm thin. I'm always cold."

"You have a nice body. You don't need to hide it."

An awkward silence fell between them, as Remus slipped on his shoes and gathered his books.

"I'm not hiding. I'm not going to act like you. I'm not going to run through the halls without any clothes on."

"No one told you to."

"Look. I'm going to be late." Remus opened the door, looking back at Sirius. "We can finish this later."

"Yeah."

Remus scurried down the hallway, trying to forget the tension that seemed to have welled in his gut.

---------------------------------

Two days later, Remus again found himself alone with Sirius. It was snowing outside, and a fire was burning in the fireplace. They sat apart, each on respective beds.

"Aren't you hot in that thing?" Sirius asked, breaking the silence. Remus looked down at his winter robes.

"Not really."

"It's boiling in here." Sirius already had his robes off, and now undid his tie and a few buttons on his shirt.

"It's snowing."

"Not inside."

"You're going to roast."

"I'll survive."

Sirius got up, stretched his arms wide, and plopped down on Remus' bed.

"C'mon Moony. Off with it."

"What?" Remus glanced at Sirius, obviously annoyed.

"Robes."

"You're mad."

"I don't want you to get overheated." Sirius pounced on him, wrestling the robes over Remus' head.

"Merlin, stop it! Pervert."

"I'm just trying to help you work on your self image, Moony." Sirius pulled the robes off, clutching them tightly. Remus looked angry, but as his hair and collar were standing on end, Sirius couldn't do more than laugh.

"I don't need your help." Remus glared. "Now let me finish my work. I have forty lines due tomorrow morning. Fuck, it's cold." Remus pulled his blanket up around his shoulders, making a tent around himself.

"I'm not finished yet."

"What do you mean?" Remus looked uncomfortable now. "What are you going to do?"

"There's no one here, Moony. No reason to get all nervous. No one's going to see you."

"Don't take the piss, you prat."

"Take your shirt off. Let's see you with some courage, you prude."

"No chance in hell."

"Take it off."

"Fuck off."

"Then I'll take it off." Sirius lunged forward, grabbing Remus' shirt. Remus fought back, but Sirius managed to grab his hands, holding him still. "You're not gonna get away, mate."

"Why are you doing this, again?"

"You have no self image, man." Sirius let Remus hands fall, and began to unbutton the other boy's shirt. Remus sighed in resignation. "You're never gonna get on with anyone dressed like you do. Don't you want to impress the girls?"

"Not particularly." Remus tried to hide a smile, knowing he'd startled Sirius, who swallowed and continued to unbutton the shirt. As Sirius' hands moved lower and lower, fingers brushing lightly against his chest, Remus became aware of a tightening in his stomach.

"Well," Sirius said quietly, finishing and pulling the shirt back over Remus' shoulders, "we'll just have to get you all dolled up for the blokes then, eh?"

Remus smiled faintly, rolling his shoulders awkwardly before diving back under the covers.

"Where are you going?" Sirius grabbed for the blanket, lifting up an edge. It was suddenly yanked out of his hands and clamped down to the bed.

"Cold!" Came the muffled reply.

"Remus ..."

"Can't this wait until spring?" A head popped out of the tangled mass of sheets. "I don't see why I need to do this now."

"Stop exaggerating." Sirius pulled the covers away, leaving Remus shivering in the center of the bed.

"I'm bloody freezing, you bastard."

"You're not actually cold."

"Hate you." Remus gripped his arms tightly, and his teeth began to chatter.

"Are you for real?" Sirius looked skeptical, and reached for Remus' arm, which was indeed covered in goosebumps. "Fucking hell."

"I t-told you." Remus gloated, clutching himself for warmth. "I think there's something wrong with me."

"It's got to be 21 in here at least, with the fire on."

"Doesn't feel that way to me."

"Okay. Let's try to warm you up then." Sirius grabbed Remus' arms, rubbing them furiously. Remus loosened his death grip, allowing Sirius to restore feeling to his freezing body. "Working?"

"A bit." Remus chattered again, causing Sirius to frown. Sirius leaned forward, squeezing Remus in a hug that lasted a beat too long. Though it did succeed to warm Remus slightly. "Can I have my shirt back?"

"Yeah." Sirius rummaged around on the bed, and handed the crumpled shirt to Remus. He seemed upset at the failure of his master plan. Remus flapped out the shirt, slipping his arms into the protective sleeves.

"Can I try something?" Sirius said, before Remus could finish re-buttoning up his shirt.

"I suppose."

Sirius reached forward tentatively, once again taking hold of his friend's shirt. As Remus watched questioningly, Sirius took a deep breath before pressing his lips to Remus'. Remus pulled away immediately, flustered by the sudden contact.

"Sirius?" He asked, softly, voice cracking. "Why did you do that?"

Sirius grabbed him, lapping gently at his throat. "I thought ..." Remus squeezed his eyes shut as Sirius nipped lower, stroking his shoulder with a flat tongue, "I could find some way to warm you up."

"But why?" Sirius stopped. Remus looked down at him, breathing heavily. "Why now?"

"Because I can." Sirius smiled, capturing Remus' mouth with his own. They kissed softly, suckling at each other's lips hungrily, and pressing their bodies together. Sirius ran his hands over Remus' chest, roughly massaging his flushed skin. Remus had Sirius gripped lightly around the waist, and was panting heavily.

They could hear laughing in the corridor.

"I think ..." Remus whispered between uneven breaths, "James ...:"

"Who cares?" Sirius replied quickly, lowering Remus towards the bed. He ran his fingers over his friend's torso, before leaning in to run his tongue over Remus' jaw.

"We have to ..." Remus moaned, chest heaving, as Sirius began lick the shell of his ear.

The sounds from the hall grew louder, and as the door started to open, Remus pushed against Sirius with all his might, and with a short cry, rolled him off the bed, sitting rigidly at attention.

Peter and James entered, laughing gaily, cheeks red and covered in quickly melting snow.

"How goes it?" James asked, shaking off his cloak, unphased by Remus' lack of shirt.

"What you blokes up to?" Peter asked, parroting James.

"Sirius was just teaching me to strut." Remus looked nervously over his shoulder. Sirius sat on the floor, staring at the stone.

"I see." James folded his cloak and scarf, placing them in his wardrobe. "Well, you should listen to him, Moony. How I got Evans."

"Yeah."

"I think I'm going to get some air." Sirius muttered, standing. He looked shaken.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Remus asked, trying not to sound eager.

"No."

Remus was somewhat relieved when Sirius grabbed for his robes and stalked out of the room.

* * *

TBC 


	2. Chapter Two

"Take it off" – Chapter Two

hr 

"He's been gone for hours, Moony."

"Well, I don't see why you think _I_ know where he's gone."

"Check the map again."

"I told you, it's fuzzy. People keep flickering, on and off. I think the snow's mucking it up."

"Well, we'd better do something before the snow mucks up more than just the map."

James, sitting on Remus' bed, grabbed the Map from his friend's hand.

"Why do you think this time's any different than usual," asked Peter slowly, "I mean, chances are he's warming up to some bird by the fire?"

"Perhaps." James replied, solemnly. "But he didn't seem like usual when he left."

"Maybe he got distracted?"

"I don't know. What say you, Moony?"

Remus stared at the floor. "I don't know either."

"I say we go out and find him," James said with authority, "even if we end up being the third party."

"I ..."

"If he's just being a git we can at least force some frogs out of him later." Peter added, gushing. "I don't see what we have to lose."

"Fine."

"Fine. Then let's go." James and Peter stood up. Remus stayed pensively on the bed, waiting a moment before hauling himself up.

"Where are we going? We should split up to cover more ground. Wouldn't that be best?" Peter asked. James was momentarily stunned by his friend's articulate and acute question.

"I'll go have a look around the girls' towers, I suppose. And check up on any empty rooms."

"I can take the kitchen." Peter grinned. James and Remus scowled. "What?"

"The kitchen and the dungeons, then." James instructed. "It's only fair."

"Oh, all right."

"I'll go outside." Remus said softly, staring out the window.

"It's freezing, Moon. You sure?" James looked concerned.

"He did say he was going for a walk, though, yes?"

"True. Fine. You go outside. But not too far. And don't get caught."

"But, how do we know he hasn't been caught already? And that's why he's missing?" Peter inquired.

"No. He's around. Somewhere." James sighed. "I know it."

"Then let's hurry."

hr 

It was _freezing_ outside. Below freezing. Through his steaming breath, Remus could see sheets of ice blanketing every window of the castle. The sun had only set a few hours before, and the night would surely get colder. His gut told him that Sirius was still outside, and he needed to be found, and fast.

Remus tried to put himself inside Sirius' head. No matter how upset, Remus knew and could swear by the fact that Sirius was a lazy bastard, and in this weather would never have made it very far from the castle. So the lake and the woods were out of the question. But where else was there to go?

It's true, Sirius could have run off to some bird. But Remus couldn't believe that, not after what had happened earlier. In fact, the evening's events had been nagging at him to the point of nausea. No. Sirius wasn't in a happy mood. He would want to be alone.

Sighing a burst of hot air, Remus looked around in frustration. The pitch. The lawn. Where?

From the corner of his eye, Remus saw something twitch menacingly, and a light sprinkling of snow flew in his direction.

The shack.

hr 

TBC – I have returned.


	3. Chapter Three

"Take it Off" – Chapter Three

* * *

Remus hurried through the trapdoor, intending to grab Sirius and get back inside. Looking around the dim corridor, he couldn't tell if the snow inside had been blown or tracked in.

From where he stood, the shack looked completely empty, covered with dust, and untouched. Remus was crestfallen. The snow was already piling up outside, and he had no idea where Sirius could be. He turned on his heels and headed back.

"Leaving so soon?" Sirius' voice called from behind the dilapidated piano dominating one corner of the large room.

"I didn't see you." Remus whispered, walking over. Sirius was seated at the piano bench, gently tapping some of the silent keys.

"I was playing."

"But it doesn't work."

"I know."

'Sirius" Are you ... all right?" Sirius inhaled, and continued to hit the keys.

"I don't know how the bloody thing got in here, anyway. Who puts a piano in an abandoned shack?"

"Maybe the spirits were restless."

Sirius said nothing in reply, and Remus quietly sat down on the bench next to his friend. Sirius turned away quickly.

"You don't want me. I know. I think that ..." Sirius started, and stopped abruptly.

"You think what?" Remus asked, hesitantly.

"I think that everyone is in love with me." Sirius furrowed his brow. "I assumed. You said ..."

"I said what?"

"You were attracted to boys. So I assumed."

"That I wanted you?"

"Yes." Sirius moved, wanting to stand, but unable to. The bench creaked.

"You're my best friend, Padfoot."

"I know."

"I wouldn't want to change that."

"I know."

"I don't dislike you. And you're an attractive person."

"I know. I know; I know I've heard that a thousand times! Don't you know that? As if it makes everything fine, in the end. I should start wearing a bag over my head."

"I'm sorry." Remus whispered, his words almost lost in the dusty air of the shack. "I'm so sorry." Silence enveloped the pair and they began to sink into the darkness of the room.

"Did it ever cross your mind?" Sirius bleated, after a moment.

"Did what?"

"I mean, did you ever consider it."

"It crossed my mind. But I never considered it."

Sirius stood, finally, walking away in defeat.

"I wanted to make you feel good about yourself."

"Sirius ..."

"Didn't you like it when I touched you?"

"I-" Remus gawked.

"You did. I felt it. You can't lie."

"I know." A faint blush grew over Remus' face.

"Has anyone ever touched you before?" Sirius asked, bluntly, looking out the window.

"That's not the point."

"Right. It's about me. But if not me, then who? James?"

"Pad, look."

"No, you look, Remus." Sirius paced forward, looming over his friend. "There was something."

"I don't want to talk about it. We should go before the storm gets worse."

"Fuck the storm. This is important."

"I said I don't want to talk about it. I am freezing cold. I marched all the way out here to get you, and I still have to march all the way back. If you want to rot here, be my guest."

"You can't go back, so you might as well start talking."

"What do you mean?" asked Remus warily. "Why not?"

"Because we're completely snowed in. When you came in, you left the tunnel open, so that's probably full too. Either way, there's no room to get out. And neither of us has a wand." Sirius smiled unhappily. Remus leapt to his feet, staring intently out the window.

"Shite." Remus looked scared. "What do we do?"

"Freeze to death, I suppose."

"Not funny." Remus clutched at himself. "I can't feel my feet already."

"Cold feet? How ironic."

"Not funny at all."

"Here." Sirius resignedly peeled off his robe and tossed it to the werewolf. "Take it."

"No thanks."

"Don't be an arse, Moony. You can't reject an inanimate object. Besides, I know how _cold_ you always are."

"Then share it, at least." Remus held a portion of the fabric towards him.

"Are you fucking kidding? No way in hell."

"I … don't want you to get sick."

"How considerate." Sirius watched as Remus huddled himself into a corner.

"Look, this isn't a game."

"Isn't it? First you tell me no thanks, now you want to snuggle?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Of course not."

"Stop it, Sirius. Body heat is …"

"Is what, Moony?"

"Is the best way to stay warm."

"Oh, is it?' Sirius chuckled gloomily. "I thought nothing I did could warm you up."

"Give it a rest." Remus sighed, frustrated. "Do you think guilt tripping my is really going to change my mind?"

"No." Sirius smiled. "But it's worth a shot. Of course … I could always try again."

"Don't even think about it." Remus looked scared.

"Why not?" Sirius slowly crept forward towards Remus. "It worked last time."

"Now is not the time for this."

"Is there going to be a time?" Sirius queried. Remus looked at the floor, silent. "Thought so."

"Just leave me alone."

"You don't have to be afraid."

"Afraid? I'm not afraid of you." Remus spat. "I feel sorry for you."

"And I feel sorry for you. Denying yourself, for no good reason." Sirius squatted down in front of the shivering werewolf.

"I'm not denying anything."

"Oh really?" Sirius smirked. "I dare you to look at me and say you wouldn't like it if I kissed you right now."

"Please. Don't."

"Say it then." Sirius waited as Remus began to get flustered.

"I…"

"You?" Sirius leaned forward, breathing warmly on his friend's face.

"I…"

"Yes?" Sirius ran his lips against Remus' cheek, causing the other boy to shudder.

"I could give it a shot." Remus whispered hoarsely. Sirius, taken aback, turned his head to feel Remus' lips pressed harshly against his own.

"Are you … you sure?" Sirius took hold of the werewolf's shoulders and gently backed him against the wall. Remus nodded, positioning himself against his friend.

"At least for now." Remus felt his heart jump as Sirius hands were suddenly gripped around his hips, under his robes, under his shirt, grasping for flesh as quickly as possible. Remus moaned and bucked forward. He could feel himself sliding down the wall, slowly moving horizontally. He wrapped his arms around his friend's shoulders, and tried to regulate his breathing.

"You guys okay in there?"

Remus sat up quickly, smacking his head into Sirius' chest. They were both paralyzed.

"James?" Sirius called out, mouth dry. "Where are you?"

"Outside."

"Oh." With a sigh of relief, Sirius rolled off the panting werewolf and lay sprawled on the floor. "How did you find us?"

"The snow stopped, so the map started working again."

Sirius, eyes narrowed, glanced at Remus, who was completely flushed.

"We're going to try to melt the snow in front of the broken window. Hold on."

"Great. Just don't set the shack on fire." Sirius replied, sitting up. He went to help Remus up, but the boy was already standing, arms crossed, staring at the floor.

Sirius forced his eyes closed as he collected his robes, dusty and tangled in a heap on the floor.

* * *

tbc, again. 


End file.
